Jack Nichols – President, HEROES, Inc.

“. . .we support the widows and children of police officers and firefighters who have been killed in the line of duty here in the greater Washington area. And HEROES actually stands for Honor Every Responsible Officer’s Eternal Sacrifice. . . Whatever they want and they need, we’re gonna make sure they get taken care of right away.”

Andy Ockershausen: This is Andy Ockershausen and this is Our Town. And we have a very important president of my most important, I believe, the most important charity in the city of Washington, of HEROES, Inc. Jack Nichols, welcome to Our Town.Jack Nichols: Thank you, Andy, it’s great to be here, great to be here.Andy Ockershausen: But you are a native of Our Town. I mean …Jack Nichols: I am, I was born and raised.Andy Ockershausen: We consider everything part of Our Town. Even Annapolis is Our Town. Vienna, Virginia is Our Town. We go all the way to Fredericksburg, because this is Our Town. Almost as big as HEROES, not quite as fame footprint, but this is what we are. This is Our Town, and HEROES is such a big, important part of Our Town.Jack Nichols: Yes, it’s work that we love to do, it’s very important. All the first responders and helping those families, it’s a labor of love for a lot of us and it has been for a very long time.Andy Ockershausen: And you’re a native. You grew up in Silver Spring.

Jack Nichols On Growing Up in Our Town

Jack Nichols: I am. I actually grew in Rockville and all my family is from the Baltimore area. My father was the first one to leave the country and come down 95 to Montgomery County. Born and raised in Rockville and been here, I went away to school for four years, but came back, been here all my life.Andy Ockershausen: We are another country to Baltimore.Jack Nichols: Right, we are, you definitely don’t bring the Washington Post up there.Andy Ockershausen: Oh my God. We had a company that I worked for called HomeTeam Sports, carried the Orioles baseball.Jack Nichols: Sure.Andy Ockershausen: And it was great.Jack Nichols: Yup.Andy Ockershausen: But, they said, whatever you do, go back to Washington, we don’t want you living here.Jack Nichols: That’s right, that’s right.Andy Ockershausen: Baltimore, we call it Baseball USA. A great baseball town. Now, the Orioles aren’t doing real good right now, we’re watching them, but our Nats are, I know.Jack Nichols: Absolutely.Andy Ockershausen: Fair compensation. So you decided, you went to school out of town, out of the city?

On Education – St. John’s | East Carolina University

Jack Nichols: Well, I went to college at East Carolina University, which is down in Greenville, North Carolina. Reason for that is my parents said you can go anywhere you want, but it can’t be more than five hours away. So Greenville, North Carolina is five hours away.Andy Ockershausen: Right on the border.Jack Nichols: It was as far away as I could possibly get, but other than that, I went to St. Johns here, locally.Andy Ockershausen: Did you? A cadet.Jack Nichols: That’s where I met, … I was a cadet, I was back when it was all boys and military.Andy Ockershausen: But you didn’t go downtown, you were up here, right, in Northwest?Jack Nichols: I was, right.Andy Ockershausen: Because they would use to be, they used to have formation down here in Vermont Avenue.Jack Nichols: Vermont Avenue, that’s right.Andy Ockershausen: I would ride the street car.Jack Nichols: That’s right, that’s right.Andy Ockershausen: So, you decided then to come back to Our Town and get involved in the banking business here. Did you study banking in college?Jack Nichols: I did, I was a finance major and the reason for all that is because my father was a long time banker here. He worked for what is now Bank of America. So in the Summers in high school and college, I was a courier and drove around, I was a teller, I mopped the floors, I did all that kind of thing.Andy Ockershausen: What was the name of the bank?Jack Nichols: Suburban Trust.Andy Ockershausen: Oh, yeah, Bob Sherwood.Jack Nichols: Correct.Andy Ockershausen: Right, he was involved with us in the Board of Trade. I remember him very well.Jack Nichols: That’s right.Andy Ockershausen: He had a guy named Jim Gibbons that used to do a lot of advertising for Suburban Bank, that’s how I got into …Jack Nichols: Yeah.Andy Ockershausen: I know a quick story about East Carolina. They had a football team, I went up to see them and they were gonna play the West Point, the Army. But they had a big flood down there and it flooded out, and they didn’t practice for a week or something. Do you remember that?Jack Nichols: I don’t.Andy Ockershausen: It must have been in the 70s, or maybe the early 80s. And I said, “These guys haven’t showered in two or three weeks. They’re gonna kill Army.” They did.Jack Nichols: Oh, okay.Andy Ockershausen: East Carolina had a good football team.Jack Nichols: Yeah, they still do. They usually put one or two people in the pros every year. But it’s …Andy Ockershausen: Always.Jack Nichols: It’s a lot of fun. It’s a lot bigger when I was …Andy Ockershausen: Greenville’s a good place, too, isn’t it?Jack Nichols: It is.Andy Ockershausen: College town.Jack Nichols: A lot of people don’t know, but it’s a college town. It’s pretty big now, so it was a lot of fun. I had a great time there and never regretted that decision. It was a lot of fun.Andy Ockershausen: Being from Our Town and go down to Greenville, it made you appreciate when you came back here that this is the capital of the world, and you’re a big part of it.Jack Nichols: Yeah, it is. It’s a little bit of a different pace down there. Very slow and everybody says hello on the sidewalk. It’s a little different than Washington. Not that Washington is not friendly, but it’s a much faster pace up here, obviously.Andy Ockershausen: Yeah, it is and in the banking business, too. And so your dad, well, Suburban got to be a huge conglomerate as I remember.

Banking Career – Perpetual Savings and Loan | Crestar | SunTrust Bank

Jack Nichols: That’s right, and he was really involved in everything that I’ve never been involved in. He lent money, and mortgages, and cars, and managed branches and all of that. In my career, I never did any of that. I managed money for individuals and institutions. It was interesting, he spent his whole lifetime in banking, and I have to, but I’ve never done anything he did. So, interesting story.Andy Ockershausen: Well, in the trust business, you’re investing other people’s dollars.Jack Nichols: Right, that’s exactly right.Andy Ockershausen: Not your clients, but people outside, correct? Outside the bank.Jack Nichols: That’s exactly right.Andy Ockershausen: And were you always with, we call it SunTrust.Jack Nichols: Right, well, it’s SunTrust today, but for those people who listen, know the story. SunTrust before that would be Crestar, and then before that, would be the old Perpetual Savings and Loan, which is where I first started out of college.Andy Ockershausen: Is that right?Jack Nichols: That’s right.Andy Ockershausen: Right down E Street?Jack Nichols: That’s right and Thornton Mellon and all that, or Tommy Owens.Andy Ockershausen: Tommy Owens, friends with your father.Jack Nichols: That’s right and I started there. And they put me in some branches and helping high net worth clients. And it kind of started from there.Andy Ockershausen: Well, that was a great building that built downtown in its day, with that beautiful marble building.Jack Nichols: Yes, it was.Andy Ockershausen: And we did a lot business here. We would broadcast here, WMAL, did a lot of business with Perpetual. Their advertising agency were friends of ours. I remember the Owens, and he was president of Board of Trade for a while.Jack Nichols: Right, yes, yeah.Andy Ockershausen: I guess Tommy was, too.

Perpetual Savings and Loan Demise

Jack Nichols: Yeah, it’s a sad story. I mean, when it went under, it was over a hundred years old. It was very much venerable S&L. It was a sad story.Andy Ockershausen: Time caught up to them, correct?Jack Nichols: It did, but I think …Andy Ockershausen: Times changed.Jack Nichols: Yeah, and also the government changed how savings and loans could book some things on their balance sheets. And not getting into any of that long story, but that really was the start. That and the real estate crisis in the late 80s. You add all that together and that’s really what caused it.Andy Ockershausen: And Perpetual was not alone, a lot of people went under.Jack Nichols: That’s right.Andy Ockershausen: In those days.Jack Nichols: Hundreds and hundreds of banks went under. But for me, I had only been there about three or four years out of college. A lot of people lost a great deal of their retirement funds and their jobs, of course, and all that. I was very lucky. I was so young at the time, I didn’t know any different. And so I was picked up by the acquiring bank through the government, which happened to be Crestar Bank.Andy Ockershausen: Crestar, right. Toothpaste bank, Bud Doggett would call it.Jack Nichols: That’s right. That’s exactly right, that’s exactly right.Andy Ockershausen: We had fun with that name.Jack Nichols: Yeah.Andy Ockershausen: But the Board of Trade people were always involved in the city deeply, of course, and made Our Town what it is. I tell everybody, the greatest thing that happened to me in my business life was being a member of the Board of Trade.Jack Nichols: Right.Andy Ockershausen: And being in the clique and being with the Doggetts, and the Antonellis, and the Calamerises, and the Owens, and the people who owned the utilities. It opened up the world to me, that there was so much about Our Town. And you’re a big part of it now, but at the time, this name HEROES came up, was 50 years ago. And that’s what I want to talk about now with you, Jack, is HEROES. And this is Andy Ockershausen, and we’ll be right back.
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Andy Ockershausen This is Andy Ockershausen, and talking to Jack Nichols, the President of HEROES, Incorporated. I assume that everybody knows, and the problem is not enough people know. What is HEROES?

HEROES – Honor Every Responsible Officer’s Eternal Sacrifice

Jack Nichols: HEROES was established in 1964 and we support the widows and children of police officers and firefighters who have been killed in the line of duty here in the greater Washington area. And HEROES actually stands for Honor Every Responsible Officer’s Eternal Sacrifice. So, that’s really what it stands for, but if in fact, something like that happens, and an officer loses his life, we come in and start providing our programs then.Andy Ockershausen: And I know the story so well, but I think the fact that HEROES is always there whenever there’s a disaster and a police or fire, I call them firemen, now it’s firefighters, that HEROES will always be there. I love that slogan.Jack Nichols: Yeah, and we kind of have another slogan, too, that we never close the books. We’ve got families that are contacting us that we worked with over 20 years ago, that need some expertise or some advice, or anything that we can do to help them. So we never close the books.Andy Ockershausen: And the big thing when it started, it was unknown, Bud and a bunch of people. And the Board of Trade was a big part of that because he tapped everybody in the Board of Trade to get the money, to get the thing started, but he underwrote it, I know that for a fact and I know all the details of it. And the fact is that HEROES is a unique charity in that most of the money goes to help, it doesn’t go to run a big staff.

Bud and Cherrie Doggett – HEROES Insists on Families’ Privacy

Jack Nichols: It doesn’t, and I’m actually the first paid employee of HEROES in 53 years. And the reason a lot of your listeners may not know about HEROES is Bud Doggett, who was involved in parking lots and that was his family business. It was kept under the radar for quite a long period of time, other than some of the people you mentioned at the Board of Trade. And the reason for that is they wanted to protect the privacy of the families. Almost all of these deaths are violent deaths, and the families have been through so much, that Bud and of course, Cherrie Doggett after that, who ran it for so many years, both of them refused to do anything that would put those families or those children in the public eye after such a big tragedy. And that’s how it was operated. And anytime those families needed anything, the children needed to be educated or the spouse needed something, it was done and it was done in a hurry and very quietly. And it was just make sure it got done. And that’s how it started, and that’s the reason that it was so quiet for all of those years. And we’re trying to change that now.Andy Ockershausen: Right, well, there’s a couple of reasons all that’s good, because people should know how valuable it’s been.Jack Nichols: Yeah.Andy Ockershausen: And I’ve seen over the years that the police and firefighters people have really … I was stunned one time, Jack, and I don’t know if it’s still true, to find out people in the police and the fire department had no idea what HEROES was? It was incredible.Jack Nichols: Yeah.Andy Ockershausen: We would tell them what it is and they’d say, well, they just never, never focused on how important it was gonna be if they needed them.

On Raising Awareness of HEROES – Who it benefits and where

Jack Nichols: Exactly, and that’s part of what we’re trying to change as well, but if you look at the jurisdictions that we cover. And we can get into that if you want, but …Andy Ockershausen: Absolutely.Jack Nichols: It’s tens of thousands of first responders. So just trying to get them the information as to what we do, when there’s turnover and new rookies coming in and all of that, it’s a herculean event to try to get that done. We cover the Metropolitan Police Department and Firefighters in D.C., which is where it all started, but we’ve grown over the years. We now cover all of the counties surrounding the Beltway and that also includes all the volunteer firefighters. So, police, fire, all the counties surrounding D.C., D.C. proper. We do the state police for Virginia and Maryland and then, also, a very large component of what we do, that a lot of people don’t know that we cover, is the Federal Officers.

Andy Ockershausen: Oh, it’s incredible the number of people.Jack Nichols: Your FBI, and the Secret Service agents, and of course, Park Police, and the Capitol Hill Police, and it goes on and on.Andy Ockershausen: U.S. Marshals.Jack Nichols: U.S. Marshals. The only requirement is they must be based here in Washington D.C., in the greater Washington area.Andy Ockershausen: Our Town.Jack Nichols: Our Town, that’s exactly right, because for what we do in the programs we provide, it’s extraordinarily expensive. We just simply don’t have the means in order to be able to cover all of those tragedies across the country. And so we just stick to what we know, which is here in greater Washington.Andy Ockershausen: That’s where you get your help from, too. There was a time when HEROES was, people around the country wanted to find out about HEROES, to see how you worked so they could do it in their community. I’m sure that’s happened.Jack Nichols: I get phone calls all the time about how do we start this and how do we do it. There’s a few organizations called the 100 Club throughout the country.Andy Ockershausen: I’ve heard about them.Jack Nichols: Houston has that and it’s a little bit similar to what we do. Some do different levels of financial support to these impacted families, but it’s the same type of a program. They help with the education of the children and make sure the widows are taken care of and all of that kind of thing.Andy Ockershausen: I think it’s so unusual that these kids that are in school, HEROES makes sure that they have the financial ability to get along, in addition to their education. They get a check twice a year.Jack Nichols: They do, actually they get three times. They get it for their birthday, Christmas, and just before Summer break. And it’s a little check and all it says in there is go buy a toy or a game, or do something just for you.Andy Ockershausen: Frivolous, correct.

The Importance of Thank You Notes

Jack Nichols: Frivolous, from your other family at HEROES. And the only requirement is, and this is great, this is classic Doggett …Andy Ockershausen: Well, what was it?Jack Nichols: Is you have to write a handwritten thank you note back to us. And, of course, that’s teaching the kids the manners part of it, but the real reason is, Andy, that’s how we track all the families as they move throughout the country. And so in our offices, we have volumes of thank you notes from all of these kids. It’s over 240 now. We’re working with our 200th family. So it’s a lot of kids and a lot of kids that we’ve educated. And the Doggetts felt that the best way to honor the sacrifice of these officers is to make sure that their kids are educated. That, to us, that is just the ultimate.Andy Ockershausen: So important, oh, my God. I remember when they started that thing, John Tydings was deeply involved in running that committee that takes care of the kids. In fact, one of our, I remember one of our kids was a member of the New York Football Giants. I don’t know if he’s still alive or whatever, but I said, “he’s a guy that’s playing football for the Giants, and we’re sending him a check.”Jack Nichols: That’s right, that’s right.Andy Ockershausen: That’s the way it is forever.Jack Nichols: That’s the way it is. And once you’re part of the program, you’re always a part …Andy Ockershausen: You’re always part of it.Jack Nichols: …Part of the program, that’s exactly right.Andy Ockershausen: And a lot of the people have come back then to help HEROES grow, is that correct?Jack Nichols: Well, they have. And sometimes they come to our golf tournament and come by and see us. And we never publicize that. We don’t tell anybody who they are, because again, their privacy is the most important to us.Andy Ockershausen: Right, very important.Jack Nichols: Yes, but they do. And they’re all very, very thankful. Not a lot of people know exactly the type of support that we give them, but it is overwhelming to the family once they get in the room with us and they realize what we’re getting ready to do for them.Andy Ockershausen: I’ve run into that, Jack, when you were trying to raise money, and people say, “tell me something about HEROES.” And I’d say, “they take care of, they would invite in the widow, let’s say of a firefighter. Invite her to come in and talk to HEROES. And she would not have any idea about what the mortgage was, who owned the car, where’s the car license, where are the extra car keys. I mean, the man would take care of everything.”Jack Nichols: Yeah.Andy Ockershausen: And the poor widows couldn’t do anything. So HEROES then, steps up and helps them. It’s an area that they couldn’t do themselves.Jack Nichols: No, it’s exactly right, Andy. And I guess the main thing that we do in our mission is to alleviate the entire financial burden that’s now facing that family as a result of the death.Andy Ockershausen: Correct.Jack Nichols: So that starts …Andy Ockershausen: Instantaneously.

HEROES’ Help Starts Instantaneously

Jack Nichols: Instantaneously, it starts within 24 hours after the death. We get a call from the chief of police or the fire chief from the jurisdiction and let us know what happened. A lot of times, we already know, but within 24 hours, that spouse …Andy Ockershausen: You get the official word.

Immediate Financial Help

Jack Nichols: The surviving spouse gets an official letter from me and a $5,000 check, of which, he or she can do whatever they want to do with that. It helps bring in family from out of town or maybe some of the kids need a new suit for the funeral. Whatever they need, they get.Andy Ockershausen: It gives them a cushion.

Letter to Funeral Home – “Family Under Protection of HEROES”

Jack Nichols: That’s right. And there’s letter, also, in that package that go to the funeral home and to a variety of other people that basically say, “this family is now under the protection of the HEROES, and we assume that you’re gonna take very, very good care of that family.” That’s the initial start, and a couple of weeks later, after things have settled down, we do bring the spouse into our offices at HEROES. And then it starts, where we ask the widow about their financial affairs. Do you have credit cards? Do you have car loans and second mortgages? And what’s concerning you on the finances? And then, that’s a very few people that are actually in that room. Just some of the executive committee of the board.Andy Ockershausen: I know that, right.

HEROES Private Meeting with Family | Financial Help from Mortgage Payments to College Scholarships

Jack Nichols: Very, very small, private meeting. And then, motions are made to pay off credit cards, to pay off car loans, to pay their mortgage for a year. To pay car insurance …Andy Ockershausen: That’s HEROES.Jack Nichols: …daycare. That’s right. And it’s a very overwhelming, emotional experience for the family when they actually realize what they’re going to be able to do. And then of course, the checks for the kids all the time. And then the big one is making sure that all of them get full college scholarships to anywhere they want to go. Any college they can get into, we take care of everything, room, board, books, fees. It’s a very comprehensive program.Andy Ockershausen: For four years, correct?Jack Nichols: For four years, that’s right. If they want to go to a trade school, or a community college, or they want to go to Harvard, it’s up to them. We’ll just make sure that it happens. We’ve been known to help some kids get into college. We’ve been known to help some kids get some jobs. Whatever they need. And then the big help is we have membership, we have a hundred individuals who are members of HEROES. They’re invited to be a part of that group. And their main responsibility is to pick up the phone when I call and say we need something for this family. So as an example, maybe all the regional presidents of the banks are involved. If I need a financial advisor for this family, we know we’re gonna get the top financial advisor. And I know because they’re a member, I don’t have to worry about it anymore, they’re being taken care of.Andy Ockershausen: And you take care of them in your jurisdiction, do you not? If it’s from Prince William, you have somebody down there.Jack Nichols: Well, we try just because it’s convenient, location wise and all of that. But we’ve had families who wanted to leave the area immediately. Maybe their family support system, we’ve picked up a family and moved them across to San Diego. And it was done within 30 days of the tragedy. Whatever that family wants.Andy Ockershausen: That’s HEROES.

HEROES is there for the family – “Whatever they want and they need. . .”

Jack Nichols: That’s right. Whatever they want and they need, we’re gonna make sure they get taken care of right away. And so that’s what we do. It’s not an easy thing to do, but it’s a labor of love for all of us.Andy Ockershausen: I’m sure that you get such enormous satisfaction of it. That you’re in it from soup to nuts.Jack Nichols: I am.Andy Ockershausen: To getting the whole thing, that’s great, though, isn’t it?Jack Nichols: It is, it is.Andy Ockershausen: You can keep your finger on the pulse of the whole thing. I’ve been to several of the meetings over the years with the families and with the survivors. And it’s been a revelation. And of course, seeing them at the golf tournament for many, many years, it’s just been great.Jack Nichols: Well, it’s very pleasing for us to see a family recover as best that any could recover from a violent death like that. And all of us feel that it’s our responsibility to do this. I mean, these people are out protecting our families, our homes, our businesses every day. They barely get a thank you. It’s the right thing to do to make sure that if they gave their life to protect all of us or protect our homes and businesses, we ought to take care of their family and make sure their kids are educated. And they should want for nothing after that happens.Andy Ockershausen: And you see to that.Jack Nichols: Yes, we do.Andy Ockershausen: Well, this has been Our Town. This is Andy Ockershausen, talking to Jack Nichols, the president of HEROES, who’s explained a lot of things I know most people don’t pay attention to and they should, how important HEROES is. It’s important to support HEROES. And we’ll be right back to talk about that support. This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town.
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Announcer: You’re listening to Our Town with Andy Ockershausen. Brought to you by Best Bark Communications.Andy Ockershausen:This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town. I’m talking to Jack Nichols about HEROES and all the great things they do for Our Town and for our area, but also HEROES has been known to help other jurisdictions from time to time.Jack Nichols: We have and unfortunately, we can’t help all the jurisdictions and all the police officers and firefighters that …Andy Ockershausen: The country is too big.Jack Nichols: It is, but as an example, the recent tragedies in Dallas and Baton Rouge. Those were so horrific and so many families were impacted by that, we felt a need to help. And so, I do have a President’s contingency phone, where if there is an emergency like that, we can try to help a little bit. It’s not the same program that we do here, but we do …Andy Ockershausen: It helps, and money does help those poor people.Jack Nichols: It really does, and that’s really what they need, they need money.Andy Ockershausen: Sure.

HEROES Cash or Checks Goes Directly to Family | Financial Support Over and Above What the Jurisdictions Do

Jack Nichols: And they don’t need as many programs, they need the actual cash. And so we work with the police chiefs up here in the Washington area to contact the police or fire chief in those jurisdictions to make sure the check actually gets handed directly to the spouse.Andy Ockershausen: It goes to the right people.Jack Nichols: It does. It doesn’t go through another organization, we insist it goes directly to the family.Andy Ockershausen: And whatever HEROES does, is in addition to what the jurisdictions do, but that’s never a question, HEROES is gonna be there. The jurisdiction could give 100,000 or it could give nothing, but HEROES is there, for both.Jack Nichols: That’s right. And we’re there. And I think for here, Greater Washington, Andy, one of the biggest concerns we have is that if there’s an event like Dallas or Baton Rouge, and we have a lot of officers killed in the line of duty, what are we gonna do? And so, we have some resources, but it’s not enough. And if something like that happens, as we say, we could be out of business tomorrow if something like that were to happen. And so that’s why we want the public to understand what it is that we’re doing for all of these police officers and firefighters here in our hometown. And we want them to be able to help support those individuals.

HEROES Honor Roll

Andy Ockershausen: Well, the honor roll of HEROES is enormous. You’ve helped 200 on the honor roll at this time?Jack Nichols: We’re currently working with our 200th family today.Andy Ockershausen: Dependents, 240.Jack Nichols: Mm-hmm (affirmative).Andy Ockershausen: And number of families, 145. That’s an impressive number to help.Jack Nichols: It is, it is. We’ve spent millions of dollars on college scholarships for all of these kids and to relieve the financial burden, pay off debts for families. That’s where all the money goes to. It’s just, it’s not enough.Andy Ockershausen: No. So then, you need more funds? It keeps …

Jack Nichols: Well, the cost of college, alone, is an enormous amount of money that keeps going. If anybody’s interested, HEROES.org. It’s as simple as that. All the information you need there.Andy Ockershausen: Everything’s out.Jack Nichols:There’s a famous video movie on there that’s only about five minutes long, but it explains exactly what we do. I think a lot of your listeners will recognize some of the people in that video.Andy Ockershausen: It’s a great movie.Jack Nichols: If anybody has any interest, HEROES.org is where you can go.Andy Ockershausen: Well, and then they can watch Our Town dialogue.Jack Nichols: Absolutely, absolutely. We’ll put a link in there.

Bud Doggett made offer HEROES’ donors couldn’t refuse.

Andy Ockershausen: Jack, what about the other jurisdictions, from time to time. You’ve added to it, but I know you all, I say you all, but yeah, because I’m part of it and have been since the first year. Because when Doggett raised money, he didn’t ask would you send some, he’d send you a bill.Jack Nichols: Right.Andy Ockershausen: Now if you have a problem with this, will you call me at this phone.Jack Nichols: Right.Andy Ockershausen: Nobody ever called.Jack Nichols: Nobody ever called him back.Andy Ockershausen: It was the greatest way to raise money.Jack Nichols: Yeah, yeah.Andy Ockershausen: We had so much fun in those days. And HEROES was a serious thing, but the group was a fun group.Jack Nichols: Yeah.Andy Ockershausen: Because he made it that way. And it always raised a lot of money, as I recall.Jack Nichols: Yeah.Andy Ockershausen: And you still need a lot of money.Jack Nichols: We do, and right now, the average cost of the tuition is $70-80,000 per year for the top colleges, so times four. It’s an enormous amount. The average that we spend on a family is in excess of $300,000 per family. By the time you add it up, depending on the number of children. So, although we have some reserve funds, there’s no way to predict what the future is.Andy Ockershausen: You never have enough, never have enough.Jack Nichols: You never can. And it’s something that we want to try to continue in perpetuity. And so we need more people to know about it. A lot of the corporations around town have been great to us.Andy Ockershausen: You’ve done that, Jack. You’ve put the spotlight on HEROES to a lot of people in Our Town.Jack Nichols: Well, I appreciate you saying that, but I can’t really take all the credit. There’s a lot of organization like Pepco, and the banks, and a lot of other people have stepped up behind the scenes for years. And more and more are doing it every day. And once people understand what it is that we do, very rarely does anybody say no. Because it’s just the right thing to do for these families.Andy Ockershausen: Well, one of the things that appears to me, you’re on top of this, with all these new businesses are coming to Our Town. We’ve got to tap into some of them.Jack Nichols: Yeah.Andy Ockershausen: If Amazon comes and builds this building in Our Town, although Bezos is a big part of Our Town now, running the Post.Jack Nichols: That’s right.Janice Iacona Ockershausen: NestlesJack Nichols: That’s right.Andy Ockershausen: I’m sure Donald Graham is still tapping into that, because I know he loves HEROES, and I know the Post did so much for them.Jack Nichols: Yeah.Andy Ockershausen: When I hear about your scholarship program, I think of sending the kid to Notre Dame.Jack Nichols: Right.Andy Ockershausen: Was a professional football player. He was a kid from HEROES, that was a great story.Jack Nichols: Yeah, I mean the stories that we have for all these kids, they’re just endless. And not all kids get straight A’s.Andy Ockershausen: No.Jack Nichols: As we all know as parents.Andy Ockershausen: A lot of them don’t complete four years.Jack Nichols: That’s right. And so, they get whatever we possibly can give them in order to get them that degree, whether it’s a tutor or they gotta repeat a class three times, or they need some fatherly advice from me or some more strict advice from other people on the board. Whatever it is that we can do to get them graduated and get them that degree, we do.Andy Ockershausen: Well, Jack, you’re running the ship from top to bottom, then. I mean, you’re a one man band. I know that because I know what you are and I know what you’re doing, it’s so great for HEROES. And great to have you, …Jack Nichols: Thank you.Andy Ockershausen: … As a big part of Our Town. I’m glad you didn’t stay down in Greenville.Jack Nichols: Well, it’s an honor …Andy Ockershausen: So glad you’re here.Jack Nichols: It’s an honor to be here in historic studios we’re sitting in.Andy Ockershausen: Well, you know …Jack Nichols: Honor to be here.Andy Ockershausen: Believe it or not, we’ve got a lot of people tuned in to Our Town. And it’ll be there for ever. Once it’s in this world that I don’t understand, it’s radio without a broadcast license.Jack Nichols: Right.Andy Ockershausen: We’re just up there somewhere. And people who tune in to Our Town are gonna hear you and, I hope forever, they’ll know about HEROES, because HEROES is gonna be around a long time.Jack Nichols: Well, I hope so. And with everybody’s help in the community and really taking after these families. And that’s really what we all need to do. As a lot of people say, it’s the right thing to do. So HEROES.org has got everything you need there.Andy Ockershausen: Well, I said this to you. It’s a peculiar thing, I hope eventually we won’t need any money and just obscure it because we don’t have any more injuries and no more deaths.Jack Nichols: We can all hope for that.Andy Ockershausen: Wouldn’t it be a great world? But it ain’t gonna happen.Jack Nichols: We can all hope for that. I know, but we can all hope for that.Andy Ockershausen: We’re working for it.Jack Nichols: Yeah.Andy Ockershausen: Jack, thank you very much. It’s been just wonderful to talk about HEROES in Our Town. And, now I’d like to have audience stay tuned to listen to HEROES creed, written by Martin Buxbaum, who worked for Mario, as I was telling you, Jack.Jack Nichols: Yeah.Andy Ockershausen: He was a local character, but it’s a beautiful, beautiful tribute to HEROES.Jack Nichols: Thank you for having me, I appreciate it.

HEROES Creed – Martin Buxbaum

Martin Buxbaum: When there’s trouble or a job that no one likes to do, you’ll hear the sirens coming. And you’ll see the coats of blue. That it’s, “thank you, God, for the squad car,” say the stricken ones with pride. But little thought is given to the ones in blue who died. When flames are roaring from a house with smoke as black as coal, you can hear the sirens answer, as the trucks begin to roll. Then it’s, “thank you, God, oh, thank you.” Yet, when the flames subside, little thought is given to the ones in blue who died. In many a darkened closet, hangs a tear stained coat of blue. Some called its wearer hero, but not too many knew, of the many nights that someone waited by an open door for the footsteps so familiar that would come through it no more. These widowers, orphans, and widows often weep inside. They think the world’s forgotten them, and those they loved, who died. But HEROES won’t forget them, through husbands, kids, and wives. We’ll keep the faith forever, with those who gave their lives.
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